Monthly Archives: September 2010

Because at the end of it all, it doesn’t matter what you did, but what you felt. At the end of the day, you have to do what your heart says what’s important. Because if you shut out all the noise that’s tying to disrupt what’s happening in the beat of your heart, then you would understand that it is the least you could do because it’s what you deserve. To know what it means to be alive, to understand what your heart says it wants, and to know the difference, to know that the hardest thing you could do is to be alive. To do it. Is all what matters. To live. To love. To live.

Finally installed a new throttle cable and a new transfer case bushing on the Samurai. A few weeks ago, the throttle cable snapped on the firewall, and while playing with the transfer case for a flat tow, I managed to get the t-case stuck in neutral (again). Got the parts while I was out in Oregon, and swapped them on earlier today – perfect since the day was uncharacteristically gloomy for the valley.

Test drove it to a body shop for a paint quote ($$) and a late lunch, and it’s running great.

I need to stop obsessing over finding a cleaner tin-top than what I already have. All I really want is a (very) clean interior and a few performance mods to make it ride better than stock. Debating if it might be easier to just wait for a cleaner car to come along to build on. I’ve been scouring Craigslist and Ebay every 5 minutes, and it’s driving me nuts.

Hopefully I’ll have my act together by early November, when we are planning to have our yearly desert excursion to forge into the depths of the 4WD routes of Death Valley.

2,613 miles on the 150cc scooter. Can’t write without gushing too much about the intensity of pulling something like this out of the hat. There are a few images that stand out, and when you’re on the saddle for 10 hours a day pulling 400 mile days, there are quite a few to choose from in the pool. The best pictures are the ones outside the camera – inside the curve, through the fog, down into the view, simmering into the golden sunset, burning in the hours that toughen the soul (and the butt). The best ones present themselves in a split second, but are beautiful enough to last forever.

There were some rough moments related to boring straight-aways, cross-town traffic, soggy weather, nail-busted flat tire, smelly tents, strong winds threatening to blow me out the road. There were times when I thought I’d been pushing the envelope too far. But most of the time, it felt more like I haven’t been pushing it far enough. Life goes on, but only when you choose to move forward.

Those who wander far away from home, know it a lot better when they return.

I’m so damn tired. I always feel this way after a long trip, but this one is especially exhausting. Put on so many miles and almost reached the Canadian border. This is an almost sure guarantee that I will pursue a cross country trip someday, as I’m probably only a few hundred miles short of actually reaching New York if I went straight east one-way. Will crunch the numbers tomorrow and plot the exact route map we did for the week. And of course, will post some photos. :)

You need to do something drastic if you want change in your life. If you don’t do anything, then nothing will change.

Basso and I actually made it all the way to the north western most tip of the lower 48’s, and camped around the Olympic National Park. Now, if you look it up on a map, that’s pretty damn far from home. We were trying to gun for the Canadian border, but barely had enough time and had to go back down to Portland to meet up with the weekend party.

I don’t have the numbers yet, but we rode an upwards of 1,200 miles over 4 days, and basically finished the entire stretch of highway 101 until it looped around in Washington state. Eventually, I will need to ride CA-1 from LA to TJ to lay claim to have ridden the entire mother loving WEST COAST. On a scooter that puts out 11.5 horsepower!!

I need to catch up on a lot of things, and was hoping to have some time to sit down and write.

Unfortunately, I don’t. Except to say I’m taking the scooter on a 1,600++ mile roundtrip shenanigan with Basso in a few hours. Destination is Portland Oregon via motorcycle, camping along the coast on CA-1 and 101. I wanted to have time to map out the exact locations of all gas stations and potential campsites – but like everything else in life, time is in short supply so I’m just going to wing it and hope for the best.

I’ve finally accepted that these trips are not just ‘one-timers’ – there is a constant burning desire to push the envelope and scramble over the next horizon of adventure. This is an itch, that once scratched, reveals an even deeper hierarchy of need.

It is my bad dream that I will never really wake up from. A year ago, one of my dearest friends was ruthlessly murdered at his home along with his girlfriend, Nika. There is NOT ONE SINGLE DAY that I do not think about them.

Eggy mentioned to me once, that I find my happiness outside the shallow trivialities (and shallow acquaintances) that others tends to brood on. It stuck to me, and I continually try to crack open that puzzle of finding the hidden fires in my heart. I confided that while the both of us were working for the family business, it’s incredibly refreshing to meet someone who plays no nonsense and understands what he wants, and goes out on a limb to pursue it. He will undoubtedly continue to inspire me, and many others blessed to have met him, until we are gone ourselves.

That was a picture at ABS-CBN I took before a taping I tagged along with. No makeup necessary, for a man as beautiful as you, Eggy. I’ll see you someday. I love you and will miss you forever.